Research Assistant or Associate

About the role:

We are recruiting a postdoctoral research scientist to lead virus evolution and bioinformatic data analysis for our program on wastewater surveillance for pandemic pathogens.

The world has never been at greater risk of new infectious disease pandemics. Global surveillance for emerging zoonotic viruses is inadequate to protect against this risk, especially in low-income populations that are at greatest risk. Wastewater surveillance potentially offers a scalable surveillance tool for the detection of spillover infection and human transmission of viral families of concern. We are funded by the Gates Foundation and the Institute of Philanthropy to establish the Wastewater Surveillance for Pandemic Prevention (WaSPP) network. This network will develop and pilot wastewater surveillance strategies, laboratory methods and analytical tools in Africa and Asia.

A critical part of WaSPP research agenda will be the analysis of virus sequence data generated through our surveillance activities. We plan to use these data to identify the virus and make inferences about potential human infection and transmission. This will involve analysis of viral evolution, simulation of potential scenarios and application of analytical pipelines to data generated by the WaSPP network.

What you would be doing:

This is a three-year post that would suit a biologist or mathematician (or similar) with research experience in infectious disease epidemiology/ evolutionary biology and bioinformatics, with the ambition to advance global public health.

In the first year, the successful candidate will incorporate models of virus evolution into mathematical models of spillover infection and transmission of prototype viruses representing viral families concern to support the development of methods for virus sequence analysis and inference of human transmission.

They will subsequently support the analysis of wastewater surveillance sequence data following pilot implementation, including refinement of the models of virus evolution and contributing to the development of appropriate analytical pipelines and tools. The post involves working closely with the WaSPP team at Imperial and the wider WaSPP network in the UK, Ghana, DRC, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia.

What we are looking for:

Experience working with sequence data, programming in python or similar language (e.g. R), and a strong interest in infectious disease epidemiology are essential for the post.

For appointment to Research Associate, you should hold a PhD in infectious disease epidemiology, evolutionary biology, bioinformatics, or related quantitative discipline with strong analytical skills and an interest in infectious disease epidemiology and/or vaccine research. Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant.

What we can offer you:

• The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity.
• Grow your career: gain access to Imperial’s sector-leading dedicated career support for researchers as well as opportunities for promotion and progression.
• Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 39 days off a year and generous pension schemes).
• Be part of a diverse, inclusive and collaborative work culture with various staff networks and resources to support your personal and professional wellbeing.

Further Information

This role is on a fixed term basis until 31 December 2027 in the first instance.

If you require any further details about the role, please contact: Prof Nicholas Grassly (n.grassly@imperial.ac.uk) and/or Dr Alexander Shaw (a.shaw@imperial.ac.uk).

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